Local & Regional

8:00 am

Fri January 25, 2013

Inhofe Voices Concern over Women in Combat

Sgt. Stephanie Tremmel, with the 86th Special Troops Battalion, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, interacts with an Afghan child while visiting the village of Durani.

Credit US Army

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe is voicing concern about the Pentagon's decision to end its ban on women in combat.

The change Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced on Thursday overturns the 1994 rule that prohibits women from being assigned to smaller ground combat units. It is expected to open up more than 230,000 combat positions that have been off limits to women.

In a statement, Inhofe said he was on the House Committee that first made the changes in 1994 and that he's "concerned about the potential impacts of completely ending this policy."

Inhofe is currently the top ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He says the committee will provide oversight of the transition and will stop any changes "detrimental to our fighting forces."